Policy
Global research programmes

Global research programmes

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Many of today’s scientific questions are too large and complex to be undertaken by one institution or even one country, alone. Modern scientific research often requires international collaboration to obtain the necessary resources in order to address these scientific challenges. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and the European Space Agency, are well-known examples of such collaborations. To build and operate these facilities requires funding from national and European agencies and efficient collaboration between scientists.

Current EU policy

Current EU research and innovation policy encourages open science sharing and collaborative procedures. The European Research Area promotes free circulation of scientific knowledge, technology and researchers around the EU. These policies help to support international collaborative projects and forward scientific discovery.

Future challenges

The largest challenge to the future of international research programmes is economically based. This is particularly prevalent during times of economic crisis. Horizon 2020 provides substantial funding to many projects within the scientific community. However, funding is highly competitive, and many robust research projects are not funded. As scientific funding becomes more competitive, the European scientific community must endeavour to remain at the forefront of research discovery. Global scientific programmes that tackle fundamental, blue-sky research as well as applied research must continue if Europe is to remain competitive on the global scale.

About EGU

EGU, the European Geosciences Union, is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. It was established in September 2002 as a merger of the European Geophysical Society (EGS) and the European Union of Geosciences (EUG), and has headquarters in Munich, Germany.